FEELING it gleaned a valuable lesson from its Aug. 31 loss to Commerce, Jefferson bounced back from its week-one disaster with a 28-6 victory over Jackson County this past Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Jefferson (1-1) scored the last 21 points of the contest to turn a 7-6 game in the second quarter into a comfortable win in this crosstown series. Click here for photos.

Dragon linebacker Wesley Simonton said he and his teammates took the field Friday with a renewed focus following the previous week’s “wake-up call.”

“That (losing to Commerce) might have been the worst thing that could happen but the best thing that could happen to us, because we came out here as a new team and I don’t think anybody expected this,” said Simonton, who had a monster game with 14 tackles and four sacks.

Jefferson, which improved to 5-0 all-time against Jackson County (1-1), put up 377 total yards in its bounce-back win.

Bryant Shirreffs threw for 173 yards on 12-of-20 passing with a touchdown. He also ran for another score. Sammy Williams romped for a career-high 119 yards and one touchdown.

McKay Dickens and Trent Sorrells both had touchdown receptions, with Sorrells catching a 21-yard scoring strike from Shirreffs in the fourth quarter and Dickens catching a 21-yard halfback pass from Isaiah Blake in the first quarter.

Defensively, Jefferson shutdown the Panthers’ spread offense over the last three-and-a-half quarters. In addition to Simonton’s huge night, Kody McDonald had 12 tackles and two sacks.

“I was proud of the defense,” Jefferson coach T. McFerrin said. “That’s tough to defend, all that spread stuff, so I thought our defense played well.”

The coach said his team did some good things on offense, too.

“We had a lot of yardage, I know that, more than 28-points worth,” McFerrin said. “It’s just great to get a win.”

McFerrin said his team beat a much-improved Jackson County squad.

“They’ve got 19 starters back, I think,” he said. “They’re big and strong. I was worried sick all week long. I was worried the first half, it was so close. We moved the ball, but something would happen. We’d make a mistake of some kind.”

Jefferson committed 15 penalties in the win.

“I’ve never had that many penalties in my life,” he said. “We’ve got to get that corrected. Overall, though, we played hard and we played well. I was proud of them.”

First-year Jackson County coach Benji Harrison couldn’t fault his team’s effort as he suffered his first head-coaching loss.

“I was proud of our kids the first half,” Harrison said. “I thought we came out and battled with them. We let the game get away from us a little bit in the second half. I thought our kids fought.”

“We practiced it and practiced it this week,” said Dickens, who finished with 43 yards receiving. “He (Isaiah Blake) threw it perfect. We couldn’t have called it at a better time and it couldn’t have been executed better.”

Not to be outdone, Jackson County scored its lone touchdown on its first play from scrimmage when Kyle Daniel threw a screen pass to Dustin Scott, who took it 80 yards for a score. The PAT was no good.

“Oh, that was a great start,” Harrison said. “You can’t ask for anything more out of the first play of the game. We were hoping it would get us a little momentum. We couldn’t sustain it. Bottom line, we couldn’t sustain the momentum offensively.”

Simonton said the Dragon defense settled down after that play.

“That first play when they scored that touchdown, we just weren’t focused,” Simonton said. “After that, I think all our young boys, we got together as a team and just went from there and they couldn’t stop us.”

Jefferson didn’t score again until very late in the first half. The Dragons, aided by a pass interference penalty, drove 55 yards and scored when Shirreffs dived in from one yard out with 24 seconds left to go up 14-6.

“That was big,” McFerring said. “That gave us some momentum going in. Every touchdown is big.”

Jefferson recovered an onside kick to start the second half and drove for another score. Aided this time by a roughing-the-punter penalty and two offsides in fractions from Jackson County, the Dragons moved 43 yards and got an eight-yard touchdown from Williams with 7:00 left in the third quarter.

The Dragons’ final touchdown came on Shirreffs’ touchdown strike to Sorrells at the 11:18 mark in the fourth quarter.

Overall, Harrison said his team didn’t make enough big plays and made too many mistakes to win the game.

“Obviously, we don’t like the score at all,” he said. “But I thought we had a chance. We gave ourselves a chance at halftime. I think our kids believed we could win it.”

Meanwhile, Jefferson left the field feeling a lot better than it did the previous week.

Great job Dragons!!! And Ben?! Can the kicker ever get some kudos for his contributions to the game? Come on! Kickoffs in the end zone, great punts & an onside kick recovery! The announcer & fans & folks in the community take notice, but somehow you never do.

I always enjoy the coverage you do, but I feel you are short changing a very valuable member of the team, who also happens to be a senior!

Ben you have been covering sports a long time, come on give some credit here to kicker of the Dragons, Chandler Schlutow. Review the film. This guy is amazing. Pay closer attention to someone besides the QB. He is a good player also but sometimes credit is due spread out.

Hey Ben,how about the DYNAMIC DUO of WESLEY AND KODY?NEARLY 50 COMBINED TACKLES IN 2 GAMES!!! REMEMBER DEFENCE IS PART OF THE GAME TOO!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO FOR THE ENTIRE DRAGON FOOTBALL TEAM AND FAMILY.

Great Job Dragons!! The Kicker is AWESOME!!! Let's get them penalties down. We have a Great Team!!! The Wonder Twins (Wonder Twins Activate) in the back field for the kick off return Rodney Carr(should be on offense) and Isaiah Blake (running back).The Defensive Line did a Great Job1!! Let's Go to Gainsville and get another WIN!!
Jefferson Fans can we PLEASE show the Dragons some love during the game. Some type of encouragment. We just sit there like bumps on a log. They want to hear us in the stands. When the defense need to holdem from getting a first down let them here us DEFENSE!! DEFENSE!!
When the offense has scored let them here us Way to Go Dragons!! Way to Go!!

And don't forget the Offensive Line. They caught a lot of flack in the press about being undersized and inexperienced but from what I can tell, they are doing a great job of protecting Bryant and giving him plenty of time in the pocket. Without them, the running backs and QB would not be able to put the points on the board and they hardly ever get any credit.

You are right DragonPride the Offensive Line is doing it!!! They are protecting Bryant BIG TIME. Now if we can get those penalities under control and Get Bryant to survey the field before he starts to run. We can be unstoppable!!
We have a Great Team!

Wow, a blow out from Commerce and a win against a team that has not won many gaming the last couple of years and you are fired up. Just an FYI on tackles, if tackles are made down field from the line of scrimmage, then the backers are drifting back to avoid the block and yes they can make tackles. If the lb are not making stops at line of scrimmage or one yard back it does not matter how many tackles they make.

If the wr would run routes and make breaks they would make a hell of a lot more classes

I have to agree that JHS got a call on a pass interference that I would have been pissed if I was a JCHS fan...but JHS was penaltized more than JCHS in the game...the big fat ref sure liked to call holding penalties at some critical times during the game.

You should of been at the commerce vs jefferson game to see the (stuff) they allow commerce to get away with...that was a 7 course meal of home cooking.

Regardless what the score shows, if you were at the game you have to agree it was a pretty good game... The game was alot closer then what the score shows.. My hat goes off to coach Harrison and his staff, because this team looks totally different from a year ago.

I attended both games and wasnt impressed at all. Still not sure why Jefferson doesnt run the ball more with Tristen and Tyler Bowen. Both are poweful backs and will drive the ball down the field. Doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that running the ball will also help the passing game.

Then I hear little rumors that the Defense and Offense has been changed again and one of the two mentioned above isnt even on the field for defense or offense. Wow!!

bOY WERE YOU EVER WRONG! ONE OF THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL GAMES I HAVE EVER SEEN!

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